1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printers of the type which print characters in response to coded digital data, and more particularly to arrangements within such printers for varying the heights of printed lines and for inserting blank lines into a form.
2. History of the Prior Art
Printers of the type which print graphic characters in response to coded character data in binary form have found widespread use in many data processing operations and systems. Such printers respond to the incoming coded character data to physically print the graphic characters represented by the character data as defined by the code thereof. The printing operation can assume various different forms including the well-known impact printer in which each segment of the coded character data results in the selection of a piece of type or other raised indicia. The selected piece of type strikes a piece of paper or other printable medium to effect printing of the desired graphic character.
Prior art printers of the type described suffer from a number of disadvantages which often limit their usefulness. One limitation of such printers relates to the difficulties in varying the heights of the characters in the lines being printed. Depending upon system design, character height is typically difficult or impossible to vary. In particular it is impossible to vary the height of characters from one line to the next so as to intermix lines of different height within a given page being printed. Further disadvantages reside both in the nature of the printer itself and in the particular techniques which must be employed to insert blank lines into a form being printed. For example, it would be desirable to be able to insert blank lines into a form as it is being made up using simple digital techniques which result in a blank line during the subsequent printing process.